'Friendly fire' also can kill the truth

Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Whetstone Schmidt, 24, who died on the eve of today’s 10th anniversary of the start of the Afghan war, was the son of Becky Whetstone and Dr. David Schmidt, team physician for the Spurs.

Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Whetstone Schmidt, 24, who died on the eve of today’s 10th anniversary of the start of the Afghan war, was the son of Becky Whetstone and Dr. David Schmidt, team physician for the

Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Whetstone Schmidt, 24, who died on the eve of today’s 10th anniversary of the start of the Afghan war, was the son of Becky Whetstone and Dr. David Schmidt, team physician for the Spurs.

Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Whetstone Schmidt, 24, who died on the eve of today’s 10th anniversary of the start of the Afghan war, was the son of Becky Whetstone and Dr. David Schmidt, team physician for the

The family of Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Schmidt of San Antonio is the latest of many who say the military has withheld information that the deaths of their loved ones may have been caused by "friendly fire."

Schmidt, 24, was killed Oct. 6 during a mission in Afghanistan. His parents first learned from a reporter and stateside Marine friend that he may have been shot by an American unit.

The Marine Corps vowed last week to make amends.

"I apologize that you didn't hear this from us first. I will always be here to listen to your frustrations and will always pass it up the chain of command to change the way we do things for the better," 1st Sgt. Scott Worth, a casualty affairs officer, wrote in an email last week to Becky Whetstone, Schmidt's mother.

Whetstone said she also received a call from Maj. Gen. Ronald Bailey, 1st Marine Division commander at Camp Pendleton, Calif., who "promised me that they would never leave a family hanging out there again without letting them know what is going on, as they have me."

"He told me in clear, direct terms that they did wrong, bungled things and they will make them right," Whetstone said, later adding: "We'll see."

Military records reveal a command investigation was initiated a day after Schmidt died "to determine if a friendly fire incident was the cause of death."

A few days after the funeral, when a reporter with the Wall Street Journal who had embedded with Schmidt's battalion called his parents to tell them of the investigation, a few Marines also contacted them, confirming unofficially that their son may have died from misdirected U.S. fire.

Whetstone and Dr. David Schmidt, the Marine's father, have said troops who were at the scene have reported he was killed by machine-gun fire from a tank that came up from behind as his infantry platoon was engaged in a firefight on a ridge in Helmand province.

"I still would have been heartbroken, but it would have made it easier if we'd known," Whetstone said. "I feel I've been misled."

That's just how Peggy Buryj of Canton, Ohio, felt after she learned of the 2004 friendly fire death of her son, Pfc. Jesse Buryj, 21.

The Army first said he'd died when a dump truck struck his Humvee. Two months later, a death certificate listed a "penetrating gunshot wound" as the cause of death.

It took Buryj another nine months to learn her son had died from being shot in the back near a checkpoint manned by U.S. and Polish troops. After a 2 1/2-year fact-finding mission, she was told the bullets that killed him had been thrown away without any ballistics tests.

"I still haven't made peace," she said. "The Defense Department website still says he died when a truck hit his Humvee."

The Schmidt case is different, Buryj said, since it involves the Marines. But her advice is the same she'd give any grieving military spouse or parent.

"They may have a long road ahead. They should go by their gut. If they think they're being told something that's not true, it probably isn't," she said.

After 35 U.S. troops were killed by accidental "fratricide" in the first Gulf War in 1991 followed by a rash of more friendly fire incidents since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, critics say the military has done little about the problem.

According to U.S. Central Command, about 50 American troops have died from friendly fire since 2001. Some cases are pending, and others never reached a clear conclusion.

Some families invest months, even years, searching for the truth through Freedom of Information Act requests, political networking and surreptitious interviews with battle buddies from their relatives' military units.

A 2007 report by the Inspector General of the Marine Corps found a "disturbing lack of understanding and compliance" with rules requiring commanders to give families updates on investigations.

The report cited friendly fire as the cause of six Marine deaths and 85 nonfatal injuries for 2003-07.

Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Michael Longoria, who commanded close-air support teams in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he once looked the parents of two friendly-fire victims in the eyes and took blame for their sons' deaths after an errant B-52 bomber strike killed three special forces troops in December 2001.

"I wasn't there, but I told them, 'I'm responsible for it. I was the commander,' " Longoria said. "That is not easy, by the way. But you know, I just couldn't imagine myself being that parent, because no matter what you do, it's not going to solve everything."

Nate Fick, a former Marine captain who saw combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, said precautions used to avoid friendly fire include Blue Force Tracker, a computer system in mechanized vehicles that helps identify friendly vehicles. Flashing Infrared lights seen only by fellow troops using night-vision goggles, as well as infrared reflector strips on uniforms, identify allied units. Briefings are held and radio frequencies shared to maintain communication.

But no system is perfect, Fick said.

"The battlefield is a chaotic place. Human judgment is fallible and always will be, and technology can help mitigate it. But as long as there is warfare, there will be friendly fire," he said.

Still, Schmidt's family wonders if his death could have been prevented.

His uncle, Bud Whetstone of Little Rock, Ark., said Schmidt had been "high on the Marines" early on, but became disillusioned with operations in Afghanistan. Compared with the Army, the Marines were poorly equipped, and often disorganized, his nephew would often say.

"He just was disgusted with the whole thing," his uncle said. "They were always being told to go out on patrol and 'make their presence known.' He felt like they were targets."

Tom Potendyk, director of Marine Corps programs for Cubic Defense Applications, a military contractor, said the Pentagon can afford technology that could prevent such tragedies from misdirected ground fire. It has resorted to "Band-Aid solutions" such as vehicle markings and reflective tape on uniforms, he said.

Cubic has an optical system prototype, mostly for ground operations but adaptable to aircraft, designed to enable U.S. and coalition forces to recognize friendly troops with weapons scopes.

"If this system had been operating on the gunner's scope, he could have easily identified the Marine as a 'friend' on the ridgeline," Potendyk said.

Although the Pentagon has a reporting system for fratricide, the number of incidents is "highly classified," he said.

Nearly two-thirds of the incidents are thought to be air-to-ground mishaps. But Cubic's system could quickly become combat-ready for use on the ground, Potendyk said.

"We'll never completely get rid of fratricide," as long as a human element is involved," he said. "But the numbers could be greatly reduced." How many more Marines and soldiers are going to have to die from friendly fire?"

The Army has been forced to confront the issue of fratricide after a highly publicized scandal surrounding the 2004 death of Army Cpl. Pat Tillman, a well-known professional football player.

His family initially was told he'd been killed by enemy fire in an ambush. An investigation later revealed that members of his unit attempted to cover up the incident by burning his uniform.

Compared with the death of Tillman, the incident less than two weeks later that caused Jesse Buryj's death received far less news coverage. But a new 90-minute documentary film about friendly fire, titled "A Second Knock at the Door," explores the ordeal his family and others have gone through.

David Sharrett Sr., whose son was killed under suspicious circumstances in Iraq in 2008, also is featured in the film, which director Christopher Grimes made as follow-up to a master's thesis at Northwestern University. It exposes what Sharrett calls a pattern of secrecy, dishonesty and deception.

"A lot gets covered up to protect officers' butts," said Sharrett, who initially was told his son, Pfc. David Sharrett of Oakton, Va., died from enemy fire.

Sharrett began asking questions after enlisted soldiers in his son's unit started talking about a cover-up. After completion this month of a third investigation, videotapes and documents have revealed his son was accidentally shot by a lieutenant who then fled, leaving his son to bleed to death.

Sharrett said the lieutenant has been reprimanded. But he feels officers higher in the command chain tried to suppress the facts and should be punished. He hasn't finished speaking out publicly about a military culture that he says puts self-preservation above integrity.

"Unless you have the press helping you and someone with political connections going to bat for you, you'll have a hard time building up the steam you need to get truth and accountability," he said.

The Marines have assured Schmidt's family members they'll be briefed after the casualty investigation is completed.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in San Antonio last week for a lecture at Trinity University, said military officials must have enough time to do interviews, collect evidence, draw diagrams and carefully review outcomes without letting "their preoccupation with that family" interfere.

"What they don't want to do is do what has happened in other cases, which is provide information that later turns out to be wrong," Gates said.

Ami Neiberger-Miller, spokeswoman for Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), a group in Washington that supports families of the fallen, said investigations often go on for months before relatives get a casualty report and briefing.

For those who still have questions, TAPS can help guide them through the military system, file FOIA requests and interpret documents that are filled with technical terms and blacked-out statements.

"It can be a quest for some people who do their own investigation," said Neiberger-Miller, whose brother, Spc. Christopher Neiberger, was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

Although the number of families affected by friendly fire incidents is small, the group can pair those families up, to share information and "just talk to each other," she said.

Buryj and Sharrett encourage families to carefully examine death certificates, autopsy reports and other documents, and to ask questions.

"You owe it to the loved ones you still have left to find the truth. And sometimes, to get accountability," Sharrett said.